The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
HONORING KING
Community recalls inspiration, genius and courage of Martin Luther King Jr.
The words of Martin Luther King Jr. came alive on April 4 in marking the 50th anniversary of the civil rights icon’s assassination.
Community and civic leaders came out for dramatic retellings of a collection of speeches and writing by MLK and other famous works that have inspired social change, honoring King’s legacy and those who shared in his collective vision of a more just society.
“We Remember in Word and Song” took place at the Lorain High School Performing Arts Center at 2600 Ashland Ave. and sponsored by the Community Anti-Hate Task Force.
The evening included musical interludes of African-American spirituals with performances by Jeanine Donaldson, Errol Brown, Maneera Hitchens, and some contemporary selections performed by HOPE, from the Oberlin College Conservatory Jazz Studies Department.
The free event happened nearly to the hour of when King was shot and killed April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
Reaching back as far as the mid-19th century, the
"...a great man, a courageous man, a God-fearing man, Martin Luther King Jr., who changed a nation and had an impact on the entire world..." — Lorain Police Chief Cel Rivera
selected passages evoked King’s notoriety for pushing the boundaries of society through direct action, with readings of Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address by the Rev. Tim Williams, and 19th century abolitionist John Brown by Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Miraldi.
A collection of poems by Langston Hughes and Claude McKay was read by E. Jean Wrice, of the Lorain Chapter of the NAACP, and the Rev. Dennis Johnson from Lorain Fairfield Baptist Church.
“As we commemorate a great man, a courageous man, a God-fearing man, Martin Luther King Jr. who changed a nation and had an impact on the entire world, notwithstanding a human man with all the frailties and flaws that we all share,” said Lorain Police Chief Cel Rivera.
“That is what made him so extraordinary. A man with a voice, an intellect, and a passion and a destiny ordained by God.”
In opening the evening Rivera recalled being an 18-year-old soldier serving in Vietnam upon hearing the news of King’s death.
“I had just arrived in country eight days before and as I walked around I realized something was really wrong but I thought it had something more to do with the war. Suddenly I heard, Martin Luther King had been assassinated in Memphis. Not unlike other cities in the U.S. and throughout the world, we responded in sadness. My friend and I talked and we cried. Some black soldiers also cried. Others were anguished and extremely angry,” he said.
He referred to King by his first name and went through his personal journey from a very young age leading to his lifelong admiration of the civil rights leader.
“I use it as a term of affection for a man that heavily influenced me for his message of helping and serving people. Helping each other not based on the color of skin, but fighting for all people. We have all been changed. Like all of you I’ve gone through different seasons in my life. My beliefs, my politics, my passions have all evolved. And that continues to this day. But for the past 55 years in the shadow of my mind, Martin Luther King has always been there,” he said.
Michael Ferrer of the PACE Foundation channeled King in his dramatic reading of an excerpt of an oratorical masterpiece in a letter written to clergy in 1963 from the Birmingham Jail in response to local clergy questioning King’s motivations and methods of challenging segregation.
“I read it once and I was just floored by what I was reading. We’re here to commemorate and pay tribute to Martin Luther King and the sacrifices that he made. And when I think of Martin Luther King after reading this letter, I think of Jesus saying, ‘God, father. Why has God forsaken me?’ Because at one time or another this man was forsaken by so many that he trusted,” Ferrer said.
“He expected that when he came to Birmingham that the churches would rise and do what is right for all. And when he was reading the paper it was all clergymen that had said this was an unwise move, that this was a mistake. Why are you protesting? Why are you not waiting for your time?”
Speakers included Lorain County Community College President Marcia Ballinger, Rev. Brad Donahue of Disciples of Christ Temple and Jae the Gospel Kidd of WNZN.
“Not unlike other cities in the U.S. and throughout the world, we responded in sadness. My friend and I talked and we cried. Some black soldiers also cried. Others were anguished and extremely angry.”
— Lorain Police Chief Cel Rivera, recalling reaction to King’s death by soldiers in Vietnam